A sex-abuse scandal incenses millions of South Koreans
“First,he just asked for a picture of my body,but then he asked if I could send one that showed my face,”the girl told a local radio show on the morning of March 24th.She went on to describe a weeks-long ordeal during which she sent more than 40 graphic videos to a man. “He had all my personal information,…I was afraid he would threaten me with that if I quit.”
She is only one of dozens of apparent victims in the latest sexual-abuse scandal to rock South Korean.
On the same day that she described her plight,police revealed identify of a man,Cho Ju-bin, who stands accused of running a range of porn channels,known as “nth rooms”,on the Telegram chat app,charging up to 30000 subscribers between $200 to $1200 for access to graphic sexual content extorted from young women and under-age girls.
The authorities are keen to be seen to be cracking down hard.South Korean’s president Moon Jae-in vowed to take a stern approach to digital sexual abuse crimes,calling the offenders “cruel” and public fury “justified”.
But it remains to be seen whether all the public hand-wringing will result in justice for the victims.Activists have long complained of South Korean’s sketchy record on prosecuting sexual abuse and misogyny entrenched in the low,which still regards being drunk as a valid defence for those accused rape.And even with the best of intentions,attempting to stamp out the distribution of abusive material online can be a wild-goose chase,as perpetrators shift from one anonymous platform to the next.
重點詞彙：
prosecute,v.起訴
incense,v.激怒
ordeal,n.煎熬，磨難
graphic,adj.與圖表相關的，露骨的
apparent,adj.清晰的
plight,n.困境
extort,v.強行索取
keen,adj.渴望的，迫切的
stern,adj.嚴厲的
fury,n.憤怒
hand-wringing,n.焦慮
sketchy,adj.粗略完成的，敷衍的
misogyny,n.厭女症
entrench,v.使…根深蒂固
valid,adj.有效的
the best of intentions,一片好心
stamp out,杜絕，打擊
wild-goose chase,白費力氣
perpetrator,n.罪犯